Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Bedtime

This just happened a few minutes ago and I have to write it down before I forget. I was reading Ethan his bedtime stories.
Ethan: "We all live in a yellow subawee, yellow subawee, yellow subawee.......Mama? Are you happy?"
Me: "Of course I'm happy. I'm always happy when I'm with you. That's so nice of you to ask me - thank you. You are such a sweet boy."
Ethan: "You're a sweet girl. I love you so much, forever and ever, and always."

Later...
Me: "Okay, I'm going to go now. I love you."
Ethan: "Are you sure you can't sleep with me? Thomas and the boxcar will cuddle you. We can play best friends."


Oh baby, my cup runneth over.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Stoney Ridge Farm 2009

Last weekend we went out to StoneyRidge Farm. The original plan was to go for Ethan's birthday with the Butts' clan, but it was downpouring so we went last weekend instead. We always have such a fun time enjoying the best time of the year. Ethan and his apple.
Checking out the scarecrow.
Picking out the perfect apple.
Papa and Ethan on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

Precious baby Hudson.
Hudson in the leaves.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Hudson at three months


"Smiley Cyrus" as Eric calls him.

Love him!
So contemplative....

Ethan's first day of preschool. He loves his Elmo "pumpack."

Friday, October 9, 2009

"Finding What Matters Most To You"

This little reflection piece was in The Bellingham Herald last weekend.

"Finding what matters most to you"

What really matters most to you? Your relationships with family, friends, and children? Helping others? Passions? Faith? Security? Health? At the end of each year, don't you want to look back and see that you made a difference? That you matter? Today is the start of a new year for your life. Start it off by making a difference in you, in your life, and in the lives of those you love. This is your opportunity. Time spent on What Matters Most is never wasted time.

Take Action Today.
1. Stop and think...then make a list of What Matters Most to you.
2. Create a list of how you currently spend your time each week.
3. Organize your list of weekly activities and identify activities that are required and those that are optional or that waste time.
4. Take steps to rearrange your schedule or reduce the optional activities so that you can spend more time doing What Matters Most.
5. Don't waste time.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

What's Hudson been up to this summer?

What's Hudson been up to this summer?
Take a look........

Chillin' with his big brother,


Smiling,Crying (a lot!),

Taking a family bath,
Taking a bath by himself,

Sleeping,

Swinging on the porch swing,
Being outside,

Melting mama's heart,

and being caught in the bug net!

What's Ethan been up to this summer?

What has Ethan been up to this summer?
Take a look...............
Going to the spray park,

Enjoying barnyard animals,
(at the Pioneer Days Festival here)

Playing dress-up,

Picking berries,

Playing at the beach,

Practicing to be a train conductor someday,

Practicing his bike riding and body art skills,
Swimming,

Playing in the dirt,
(At the Strawberry Festival)

Going on adventures,
(at Northwest Trek here)
Hanging out with cousins,
And last but not least, becoming a big brother and a handsome young man!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Hudson arrives!

It's a boy! Hudson Robin Engman arrived on Monday, June 29 at 11:31 pm. He was 9 lbs. 10 ozs. and arrived via repeat c-section. He is completely precious and I am a thankful and proud mama of the Engman boys.
Here is the story of his birth:
I was hoping for a natural labor (VBAC) and that I wouldn't have to have the scheduled c-section which was to be on Tuesday. So, thankfully I went into labor at 6:00 am on Monday morning. We went into the hospital around noon and were admitted as I was dilated to 4 cm. Contractions intensified but Eric and mom were in the room with me and I was also kept laughing by some old SNL Best of Will Ferrell reruns. I got an epidural eventually and finally got to the pushing stage around 8:30 pm. By this time I was very tired and the medication made me more listless and sick than anticipated. After two hours of pushing, the doc told me that the baby was not descending and that the head was not in a good position (at the time, of course, we didn't know how huge his head was or large the baby was, which probably contributed to the problem) and she highly recommended a c-section. I was very upset about this, mainly because it was not the birth experience that I had wanted and also that all my efforts thusfar were futile. But ultimately, I knew it was the best decision and I went in to have the c-section. I went into this just wanting a healthy baby and I am so thankful that we live in a country where resources and medicine are readily accessible. Indeed we are undeservedly lucky. So they took me back into surgery where I continued to get and feel even more sick by the medication, but hearing his cry and the "It's a boy!" announcement from Eric made it all not matter anymore. No, I was not surprised that it was a boy. As time went on in my pregnancy, I felt that it was going in this direction. So I stayed in the hospital for three days - just got back home yesterday. He is beautiful and perfect and I adore him.
It took us a few days to decide on the name Hudson. We had a short list of boys' names and couldn't decide, but ultimately I think it suits him and I adore it. His middle name is the name of my beloved dad.
Ethan is doing fabulous with Hudson. He is so sweet and loving and already refers to him as "my little brother". This morning he lifted up his shirt with Hudson on his lap and asked him, "You want some mook from my bweast?" He's a little confused on the prounouns ("Is her hungry, Mama?") but all in all I couldn't ask for more from my little toddler. Now the one who is experiencing displacement is Miss Bailey. She looks at me like, "Really?" I just remind her that she will always be my firstborn. :)
As with all new mothers, I am not getting much, well any really, sleep. I am thankful, though, that it is summer and I'm not stressed about work and whatnot. I'm also in more pain than I would like to be...mainly I'm just really slow moving about. I am eager to get out and about and moving. I like to be active and the last three months have been difficult in that regard. I am so happy to be able to sleep on my back again though!
Praise God for Hudson, this family, and all of you. I am one lucky lady.





Grandma and Hudson


Storytime last night


Proud big brother


Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day, in every way
It's getting better and better
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful boy
Darling, darling, darling,
darling boy















Thursday, June 25, 2009

Late spring pictures

Well we are finally out of school and we have been busy! I am three days away from my due date and we have a major basement remodeling fully underway. Here are some pictures of Mr. Ethan taken over the past few weeks.

Ethan picking me a flower (chive) from our garden.

Ethan and Bailey hanging out.

Ethan and cousin Travis holding up their clam shells at Birch Bay.

Ethan helping Papa in the basement.

Us at the Deming Log Show. I'm about 38 weeks pregnant here.





Thanks to Steve, Gary, and especially my Dad for helping us out with our basement, and thanks to Mom for helping out pre-baby. Love you guys!
We'll keep you all posted on baby status!